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I’m Bob Larson. Forget about all the fantastic technology and equipment available for Ag these days, focus on the most important cog in your business machinery, your people.

That’s the message from former Hard Rock International executive and author Jim Knight who told a Potato Expo audience it’s all about creating the best culture among your people.

KNIGHT ... “You go out there and you look at all the people in their eyes, and I know, I look across at the Expo here, and there’s some tremendous equipment, technology, how you can actually advance the growing of the potato and yet I think that’s a very, very small part of it. I think it’s always about the people. It’s the humans. It’s who you surround yourself with, so that was my message. I spent an hour out there, but I hung my hat on the people that you actually bring on board. They are the rock stars that are gong to actually going to make the company work, or not.”

Knight says we spend a lot of time developing our managers, but we can’t forget about our entry-level workers …

KNIGHT ... “They’ve had all the leaders out there, management level, but what they haven’t done a very good job is to spend time teaching, training, loving on enough of the hard labor worker. So, if you have somebody, let’s say, working out in the field and, let’s say, English is their second language, and they’re out there hoofing it, putting in 10, 12, 14 hours and you’re not showing them a lot of love, treating them like a human or ultimately trying to get them to become a leader, it’s going to be an issue for them. What they will wind up doing is starting to look with a wandering eye for a better job. So, absolutely, it doesn’t matter what the level is, I think every leader can amp up their brand by just throwing their arms around people and getting them to do the things you want them to do.”